Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
Almost every visitor is Greek. That is not a gap in the market so much as a description of the place: nothing here is arranged for foreign tourism, and the pleasure of it is a landscape that looks nothing like the Greece of the brochures.
The valley
Karpenisi town itself is a functional modern place at about 960 metres. The reason to be here is the Karpenisiotis valley running south of it, with villages on both flanks:
- Megalo Chorio and Mikro Chorio, the two best known, stone-built on facing slopes.
- Koryschades, a restored village above the town with a museum in the school where the wartime resistance government met.
- Gavros and Voutyro, lower down by the river.
Above them, at Velouchi, is the ski centre, with a season from around December.
The rivers
Evrytania is the rafting region of Greece. The Karpenisiotis is the local, gentler run; the Tavropos, the Krikelopotamos and, above all, the Acheloos and Agrafiotis give harder water. Local operators run trips in spring when the snowmelt is in.
There is also serious hiking, a via ferrata, and canyoning in the side gorges.
The Agrafa
North of Karpenisi lie the Agrafa, the wildest range in mainland Greece. The name means “unwritten”, traditionally because the Ottomans never recorded or taxed the villages there. Roads are few and rough, and it is genuinely remote country.
Getting there and how long
About four hours from Athens and four from Thessaloniki, by mountain road. There is no airport and no train.
Three nights, and a car is essential.
Last checked August 2026. Rafting and ski seasons are weather-dependent - see our editorial policy.
Common questions
Where is Karpenisi?
In Evrytania, the most mountainous part of mainland Greece, about four hours from both Athens and Thessaloniki.
What is there to do in Karpenisi?
Rafting and canyoning on the rivers, hiking, the stone villages of the Karpenisiotis valley, and skiing at Velouchi in winter.
When is the rafting season?
Spring, when the snowmelt raises the rivers. The Karpenisiotis is the gentler run; the Acheloos and Agrafiotis are harder.
What are the Agrafa?
The wild mountain range north of Karpenisi. The name means “unwritten”, traditionally because the Ottomans never recorded the villages there.
Do foreign visitors go to Karpenisi?
Very few. It is a domestic mountain destination and nothing is arranged for foreign tourism.
Next
Read Lamia, Lake Plastira, or Meteora.